October 20, 2018
An Old-Fashioned Comedy
Alexei Arbuzov
On the Riga seaside, in a quiet sanatorium, two people meet who seem to know everything about life and to have long grown used to loneliness. He is Rodion Nikolayevich, the chief physician: strict, reserved, accustomed to order and inner discipline. She is Lidia Vasilyevna, a former actress and circus cashier: vivid, ironic, unpredictable, and unwilling to accept age, gloom, or grey everyday routine.
Their acquaintance begins with mutual irritation, sharp remarks, and comic misunderstandings. Yet gradually, behind this verbal duel, something deeper is revealed: memories of a life already lived, losses, loneliness, unfulfilled hopes, and an undiminished ability to rejoice in the world.
“An Old-Fashioned Comedy” is a tender and wise story about a late encounter, the dignity of age, and a person’s right to love, to funny happiness, and to new hope. It is full of subtle humour, sadness, and light — like an old waltz that one suddenly wants to dance again.
Photos from the performance
